PRO BASKETBALL

PRO BASKETBALL; N.B.A. May Take Page From the N.H.L. Guide to Labor Peace After a Lockout

By SELENA ROBERTS

Published: November 29, 1998

Just four years ago, there was a grueling and emotional two-day session that saved a season as a deadline passed. The resolution left the insults that had been traded through five months of labor negotiations no more harmful than shots fired in a game of paint ball.

That was how the 1994-1995 lockout unfolded -- in the National Hockey League. And to some within the National Basketball Players Association, the course the N.H.L. took in ending its labor strife has provided a blueprint for the N.B.A. during the current basketball lockout. In the end, the N.H.L. players and owners were motivated by the desperation of the moment -- fear that the league would become the first major professional sport to cancel its season -- and a deal was struck that was viewed to favor the owners.

''That's the same path we're heading down,'' one basketball union official said on the condition of anonymity. ''Wait and take, that's what the league is doing. They want to scare the players and make them keep giving and giving until the 11th hour.''

Some N.B.A. players believe too much has been given already. In a conference call that the union's executive director, Billy Hunter, held with more than 120 of the league's 400 players yesterday, there was talk of bending no further. According to one union official, among the two dozen players who spoke during the conference call, several suggested that no more ground should be given even if it means the cancellation of the season.

That was the extreme stance. It seems likely that more compromises will be made by the union and the league once the two sides meet. To force a bargaining session might take an imposed deadline. Union officials say they have been pleading for a deadline now -- not later, as in mid-December -- to find out whether they can get a deal, for everyone's sake, including players who continue to lose paychecks.

Some players suspect that Commissioner David Stern will not set a deadline any time soon, to inflict more punishment on them and attempt to weaken their resolve. League officials call those arguments ridiculous. Instead, league leaders say they are willing to negotiate if they can get assurances on the union's flexibility. A session scheduled for yesterday was called off by the league after owners said the union reneged on promises made in the previous meeting on Nov. 20.

Union officials denied that charge. They in turn criticized the league's list of conditions for a meeting, which included a guarantee that the players would soften their stance on their desire to get 57 percent of revenue. The collective bargaining agreement was reopened this year once the players' share hit 51.8 percent.

''It's not practical, but that's the position they've taken,'' the N.B.A.'s deputy commissioner, Russ Granik, said yesterday. ''They want at least as good a deal as last time. Unfortunately, the way it worked out is that the players had too good of a deal.''

So it seems the game of chicken continues.

''I have no idea what they are waiting for or what their strategy is,'' Granik added. ''We're not going to set a deadline because that sounds like an ultimatum. Either we will make a deal or we won't.''

At some point, perhaps in the next two or three weeks, the union foresees Stern issuing a deadline, as in the N.H.L. lockout. But if the union relies on the N.B.A.'s following the N.H.L. blueprint, it could be perilous if Stern continues to not set a deadline, and without warning decides to cancel the season. It is possible that the owners, some of whom are willing to call off the season now, are not posturing.

Stalled talks, stubborn stances and blatant mistrust are hallmarks of both the N.B.A.'s lockout, which is in its 152d day, and the N.H.L.'s lockout, which lasted 103 days. There were owners in the N.H.L. ready to shut down the season, just as there are in the N.B.A. As the lockout came to a boiling point under the pressure of an imposed deadline, the players were forced to make several concessions.

''The owners moved inches, and we moved football fields,'' then-Devils defenseman Tommy Albelin said when the deal was agreed to on Jan. 11, 1995. Albelin's feelings then are reflective of how the N.B.A. players are responding now.

''It's beginning to play out that way,'' one union official said on the condition of anonymity. ''I don't think it's a coincidence.''

One important reason for the union's suspicion lies in the relationship between N.H.L. Commissioner Gary Bettman, who left the N.B.A. five years ago, and Stern. For years, Stern was Bettman's mentor in the N.B.A. Then Bettman was off to put the N.H.L. on the pop charts. Two years later, he was faced with handling a grim lockout, and most of the owners celebrated his performance.

Once the lockout was resolved, the N.H.L. made several decisions that the N.B.A. may end up copying. The N.H.L. put into motion a reduced 48-game schedule and lengthened the regular season. The N.B.A. has also discussed a similar scenario.

First, there has to be a resolution. How long can the stalemate last? In the N.H.L., a month of silence passed between a Dec. 6 meeting and the ones leading to a settlement in January. The last bargaining session in the N.B.A. was almost 10 days ago, with no new meetings in sight.

''People talk about what happened with baseball and how it relates to the N.B.A.,'' one union official said. ''The N.H.L. is the model.''